031

Today was spent with the boy since we hardly see each other during the week. We spent most of the day out near Robinson. Had successful trips to Ikea and Walmart, which, by the way, remind me NEVER to do again the day before the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. I hated my life the entire time were in in Walmart.

Earlier in the day we started talking about blackheads (yes, both random AND gross) and the boy mentioned he wanted to do something about his skin. Under my suggestion of Biore Pore Strips and face masks, he was all for it! So, after a quick trip to the store, we pampered our skin and cleansed our pores. And, for the record, he totally knows I was going to post this picture--("I feel so..metro"), so I'm not in trouble ;p

030

We had a Pre-Super Bowl tailgate party this morning at work with the AM crew. Everyone brought something to share and it was a success! This was the biggest participation turn out we've had yet. We were all joking about how we can all manage to eat things like buffalo chicken dip and pierogies at 8 o'clock in the morning, and not think twice. haha.

029

I feel like I'm digging for photos here (well, I guess I kinda am!) but I had to show this. I went to eat my Fiber One granola bar yesterday morning and when I opened it, I got this little surprise. One half was missing chocolate chips! Now, I was a little disappointed because those bars are normally delicious, and chock full o' chips.

Last night after work I met up with Erin and Eric (OG co-workers; twins) at Fridays for a drink. After some blue moon (Eric and I) and two glasses of wine (Erin)..Erin and I went to see Twilight (again, for me) and Eric went to see another movie. It was a late night, but a fun way to end a long day.

028

Inevitably, my creepness was bound to make its debut, and I think today is the day! The Penguins are always at OG on home game days. They come to the restaurant after morning skate and pig out on pasta and soup. So today, I decided to take a paparazzi shot of my jersey sake, Kris Letang. haha. Homeboy had no idea I even snapped the photo. He was too busy eating and talking to another teammate. I win!

Other than that, today sucked money wise. We were dead and it was hardly worth my time. Oh, and when I woke up this morning to be at work at 4am, my car and the parking lot was a complete sheet of ice. Love it -- not.

027

Another day of experimental cooking, since I had some free time after work. I decided to make funfetti brownie cupcakes (the back of the brownie box enticed me) and homemade pizza (as fueled by Renz's post) and it was delicious, even though the bottom crust was really thin so it was slightly soggy. I also realize that the frosting on the brownies look very much like piles of turds. haha. The boy is working tonight, so I packed him some dinner and drove it downtown to him.

Despite my salty mood because of my lack of sleep + headache, he was still appreciative. He is very tolerant sometimes <3 And yes, I too cheated with this post because I wanted to post both pictures of my food porn. Mmm mmm good!

026

My mom and I hung out this afternoon while my dad was off doing work things in "dahntahn" Pixburgh. We spent the afternoon at Waterfront. Did a little shopping, had lunch at Red Robin and went to see Last Chance Harvey. Afterwards, I finally got a chance to exchange my lotions I got for Christmas for body wash instead. I'm not a huge lotion person, so the body wash will serve a much better purpose. With the actual amount of soap I end up using in the shower, I'm pretty much set for the next 2 years!

025

The parents were in town today. They took my brother, the boy and I out to dinner. Of course they chose to go to the Olive Garden, but since I hardly eat there, I was okay with it. Later, the boy and I decided to watch a movie on Netflix (gotta love their instant viewing option) and I foolishly chose Blonde Ambition (Ryan was not happy. haha) -- it's that Jessica Simpson straight to DVD flick featuring Luke Wilson and Andy Dick. Boy, that girl truly cannot act.

024

Elisa and I had a 2/4 girl's night. Katie and Danielle were missing from the group, but we still had a good time, with lots of good chats (do you expect anything less?) We started off with dinner at Mad Mex (I'm still salty I left my leftovers on the table. boo.) and then went to Starbucks for more talks and the game of LIFE. Somehow, we always sit by wierdos there and tonight was no exception. The worlds most obnoxious kid was out -- but I use the term kid loosely because he was probably a senior in high school.

After that, I went to a different Mad Mex and met up with some OG co-workers for margaritas and good times -- and dang, those drinks are strong!

023

Ryan and I went out to Pittsburgh Mills to catch Slumdog Millionaire, which was a really great film. We both liked it, which doesn't always happen! Afterwards, we walked around the mall and checked out the Pet store. We both fell in love with this little fluff ball. She was the cutest thing ever (yes, for $1,500!) and Ryan came real close to buying her. However, after some convincing from a woman (whom I was convinced was a bit crazy) and the fact that he's not supposed to have a dog in his apartment, he didn't. Someday, though!

022

I had the whole day off today, and it was fabulous. The majority of my day was spent with the boy, but we needed it, so it was nice. We ventured out to Walmart (which is like a 20 minute drive, so we don't do it often) and the boy stocked up on his groceries. I picked up a few more things myself -- mostly a bunch of those 100 calorie snacks and a jar of peanut butter with honey. Amazinggg. Oh! And those new 100 calorie Oreo Cakesters are wonderful, in case you were wondering. We also went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. It was delicious and a good way to end a nice day (well, that, and the new episode of Grey's Anatomy!)

021

To be honest, it was a pretty boring day. I worked a double. Had some cheap tippers (what else is new) and thats about it. Some of my favorite co-workers were there working, so it made the day/night go by faster at least.

Later, Ryan and I watched "Taken" which is that new Liam Neeson movie that comes out to the theatre next weekend. Yea, I have the hook up! ha. But, it was an ok movie. Nothing spectacular, and kinda glad we didn't pay to go see it in the theatre. Plus, it wasn't even 90 minutes long! Lame.

020

Inauguration Day 2009. I tried taking a photo of Obama on the TV, but none of them turned out as I would have liked. But suffice to say, today was a day that will go down in the history books. The country's first African-American was elected the 44th President of the United States.

Other than that, I made some pink lemonade cupcakes tonight! I had the evening off, so I took a trip to the grocery store and spent too much money. However, I DID buy plenty of healthy, low-point foods to kick start my healthy eating back in to gear. Not that the cupcakes help, but I only tried one, so that has to count for something ;)

019

I actually paid to do laundry today. Normally, I try and hold out as long as possible and bring it home with me when I go to Erie (um free laundry, hellooo) But alas, my work shirts were filthy and it just needed done.

However, I am severely annoyed with my apartment building's dryers. Only one. Yes, ONE actually dries clothes. I always try and get that one, of course, but today it was being used and I didn't have time to wait around. So, instead of the $1.50 I would have spent the dry, I paid $3 to run the dryer twice and my clothes were STILL damp.

018

Another snowy Sunday in Pittsburgh. I caught Jack staring longingly out the window this morning. I should take him and Owen out in the snow sometime. They'd probably hate it, but eh. Jack hasn't even left the apartment since I got him in June. Meanwhile, Owen was a traveling man. He used to go everywhere with me, until Jaxon arrived.

But anyway. Today was super boring. I worked all day, and it was a waste of time. We were so dead due to the Pens Game and Steelers game. I made about $60, and was out the door by 7pm. Buuuut -- Pittsburgh's going to the Superbowl!!

017

Another successful (and fun, of course) girl's night! Katie and I spent the afternoon shopping at Tanger Outlets. Melanie and Joey met up with us, and the poor little dude wasn't feeling wellso he wasn't his usual smiley, bouncy self. I got lots of new shirts, a pair of jeans, a little stuffed toy for Joey and also a shirt for Ryan (that cost me $2. haha) So, I was a very pleased bargain shopper.

Katie and I met up for dinner with Elisa at PF Changs. It was delicious. We ended the meal with mini dessert shooters (as pictured above) and then went to see "Bride Wars", which was a very cute movie. We already have our next girl's night planned out! haha.

By the way, my fortune said -- A crab wonton a day keeps the doctor away!

016

Starbucks makes mornings (taste) better. It really does. And thankfully, I work with people who feel the same. John and I take turns going to the great coffee house to get our fix. He recently got switched to the morning show and is done by 8 o'clock in the morning, so I figured our Starbucks days were over. But yesterday, low and behold I get a little "ding!" on my iNews, and its John telling me he is making a coffee run. Hallelujah!

The rest of my day was spent with Ryan. We went to see "Gran Torino" then went to some hoighty toighty dinner for this internet business he's trying to set up. We got a good laugh out of it, though. I tried getting a decent picture of us all fancified, but it didn't happen. booo.

015

After work today I had a doctor's appointment, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing things around my apartment. I picked up a storage shelf from Target for my kitchen, and everything looks much less cluttered. A lot of my canned things fit nicely on it and don't take up room in my cupboards and window sill! I also went through my refrigerator and threw out a bunch of expired things. Now, my fridge is bare. haha. Go figure.

Then, I went to 20 cent wing night with Katie, Ryan B. and Dennis. The wings were jumbo, but delicious like always. MY Ryan stayed home to sleep before work, so being the fabulous girlfriend that I am, I brought some wings home to him.

PS -- Happy 50th Birthday to my wonderful Mother!!

014

I had to stop at the grocery store on my way home from work tonight to pick up food for my two fur-children waiting at home. In a moment of PMS driven motivation, I found myself in the frozen dessert aisle and the little devil on my shoulder convinced me to pick up a half gallon of ice cream. I'm about to sit my cramping bum down on the couch with a bowl of sin and watch a movie before bed.

Hey, at least its only 1/2 the fat..and I'm sticking to the serving size (with a little extra small scoop on top. shhh)!

013

Today during cut-in breaks at work I began reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. As usual, I didn't join the hype until later (much like the Twilight series) even after all of the coverage my station did on the man. I'm only on the second chapter or so, but already I am hooked. Paired with a hot mocha latte, its the perfect thing to do on a cold, snowy day. I didn't want to put it down when I had to work my double this afternoon. Already I can tell that its going to be quite the tearjerker.

Happy reading :)

012

I helped Angela move about 50 yards away from her old apartment. haha. She and I spent a good hour or so moving all of the smaller things. Chris and Ken eventually showed up and got all of the big stuff. Afterwards, I went right to OG and worked a dinner shift. Made nearly $80 in 4 hours, which I can't complain about. Especially since I just got my cell phone bill and went over my out-of-network texts by 300+ (thanks Elisa!!) yikes. haha.

011

Today was my last day in Erie. I spent the majority of the day just vegging out with the parents. My mom made a yummy dinner of roast, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. Later in the afternoon, Guy and I went to see Gran Torino which was a really decent film, by the way.

So for today, I'll just leave you with a picture of some pretty icicles outside my parents back porch.

010

We took my mom out tonight for her big birthday. The big 5-0. Hence why I made the trip home to Erie for the weekend. We started the night with dinner at Hoss's (her choice.) and then went to Jr's Last Laugh, which for you non-Erie people, is a comedy club. The main comedian, Rob Little (yea, I'll pimp him out!) was quite hilarious. I found myself wiping tears from my eyes on more than one occasion.

And no, my camera lens is NOT dirty. Those, my trusty blog readers, are snowflakes. Erie is seriously one giant snowball right now. I do believe more than one time tonight while slipping all over in my horrible non-tred boots (that I love so, so much) I have loudly declared -- "I HATE Erie!!" ..which really is only half true. Well, more like 3/4 true. Only when it snows 10 months out of the year.

009

After work tonight, Renz and I made a trip to the snow belt of Pennsylvania, aka Erie, my hometown. Pittsburgh had a nice dusting of snow on the ground when we left. But of course, everyone else thinks its a travesty. I chuckle when everyone goes absolutely ballistic over an inch of snow. Really? Really?! I love working at a news station where "Severe Weather" leads when the rain is pounding slightly harder than usual, or we might have a chance of half an inch of snowfall overnight. I guess not everyone was blessed to grow up in a town where we were lucky to get a 2-hour delay if there was more than four feet of snow on the ground.

008

My original photo for today was going to be a picture of the boy cooking me dinner, which was yummy, by the way.

But THEN -- the cookie disaster happened. I love baking and when I find a new recipe, I get anxious to try it. My main joy in cooking is sharing with everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy eating my creations myself.. but anyway, I digress. SO -- I found a recipe for these amazing chocolate chip vanilla pudding cookies. I decided to bake them while Ryan was off at a meeting. In a matter of a half an hour, my brand new hand mixer blew a fuse on me (and sparked, and started smoking) and then, I spilled flour ALL OVER. The carpet, the kitchen table, the counter, you name it. Luckily, Ryan's vaccuum was functional enough to clean up the white mess before he got home and forever banned me from his kitchen.

At least the cookies were delicious.

007

I got a note today at work from "Elton John". This is kind of an inside joke/referring to last night's karaoke adventures. Somehow, Eric and I got to talking about that scene from 27 Dresses where Katherine Heigl and James Marsden sing "Bennie & The Jets" at that dive bar, and well, we thought it would be fun to try and sing it as well. Note the word try. The only lyrics I really knew was the bridge (you know -- b-b-b- BENNIE!) so needless to say, I probably looked (and sounded) like a fool. But, I think that later in the night we redeemed ourselves with a rendition of "Shot Through the Heart" Oh yea.

006

Katie and I went to the mall yesterday and saw these fabulous jeans. I was so intrigued, I almost asked the girl where she bought them [please for those who don't know me, note the sarcasm eh?] I took this crappy phone picture in order to capture their beauty. In this mall trip, we also decided to venture UP the DOWN escalator since the other was out of order. It was so funny, I really almost peed my pants.

Later in the night, I met up with some OG co-workers for Jay and KP's birthday. It was an awesome night of photo creeping (please refer here) and karaoke. I didn't have my camera handy, but Angela took plenty so when she gets around to posting them, I will certainly share the best ones.

005

Today's photo is pretty lame, but so was my day. I worked a double at OG. Between shifts, I ran to the bank to deposit money into my account, which would have probably been overdrawn once my landlord cashed my rent check, had I not done so. I waited in line at the bank for at least a half an hour. I was annoyed.

004

Tom stopped by on his way home from Philadelphia. I bought his LG Dare phone off of him, so he brought it to me. I love it. It's like a generic version of the iPhone. haha. This picture kills two birds with one stone -- my phone + Tom! We also got Taco Bell and watched some football. What a cliche Sunday!

003

Had a girl's night tonight with Elisa. We started the night at Bravo, and had the world's worst waitress. We did, however, leave with a neat light up pen. ha. These were our drinks. White Peach Sangria for Elisa and for me, an Apple Strawberry Mojito. It doesn't taste as gross as it looks, I promise. It was, in fact, quite delicious.

002

I attempted to be domestic this evening and tried a hand at my mom's meatloaf recipe. When she and my dad got married, she had to adapt to his mother's recipe because he didn't like ketchup mixed in with his meatloaf. So, we've always had ours without it. I like it better that way myself. I made the meatloaf for Ryan and I -- and the result? He tells me he'd prefer it WITH ketchup. oi. But, he did say he really liked it. Thumbs up for me.

DAY 001

First day of my 365 project.I actually forgot to start this yesterday, so I am a day behind. Thank you, back date option.

Anyway, I have a photo to sum up my New Year's Day 2009 --


I worked literally all day. From 1a-10a at WPXI, then noon until 7p at OG. Between double time at the station and generous tippers -- it was a prosperous day, at least.